- Conference
- 2016 Higher Education Service Group Conference
- Date
- 4 November 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that the Trade Union Bill currently going through Parliament is the biggest attack on workers’ rights and civil liberties in a generation. The headline requirement of a 50% turnout for a strike ballot is well known but there are other more insidious and pernicious sections that will fundamentally affect the way that Trade Unions and their activists will be able to function and represent their members. The aim of this Bill is clearly to undermine the trade union movement and its ability to represent its members.
The Trade Union Bill will have an impact on members working in higher education. Facility time is under threat in a way in which it has never been before and the lack of facility time will fundamentally alter the way in which we can represent our members and help keep workplaces safe.
The ability to strike will be severely restricted making it almost impossible to take lawful industrial action. Whilst the threshold requirements are well known, other restrictions are less publicised :
1)Ballot papers will require greater detail;
2)A reballot will be required every four months;
3)Balloting will still be postal – no offer of secure electronic or workplace voting that unions have been requesting for many years and which was is felt to be secure enough for the London mayoral election;
4)The removal of the prohibition on agency workers to break strikes and these workers may face dismissal if they refuse to cross a picket line;
5)Names of pickets will have to be provided to the Police and employers and a supervisor identified wearing an armband who will need a letter from the General Secretary authorising the picket;
6)“Intimidation” is widely defined and the move from the civil to the criminal code could result in large fines for UNISON and/or an ASBO (anti-social behaviour order) issued against a picket
7)Payment of Union subs through DOCAS (Deduction of Contribution at Source) is also under threat.
Even some Conservative MPs feel that this Bill has gone too far. Many employers have good working relationships with Trade Union representatives and acknowledge that this Bill will not improve industrial relations. The Scottish and Welsh Assemblies have stated that it should not apply in their respective countries.
Conference calls upon the Higher Education Service Group Executive to provide members with advice and guidance to persuade those who support the Bill that it should be withdrawn and to highlight the impact of the trade union bill on workers at UK Universities.
The SGE should encourage members to:
a)Lobby MPs (member of parliament), AM’s (Assembly Member), MSP’s (Member of the Scottish Parliament), MEPs (Member of the European Parliament), Lords and encourage members to write to national and local newspapers, taking part in local phone-ins and other debates;
b)Lobby local Councils to pass motions opposing the Bill;
c)Encouraging employers to oppose the Bill through their employers organisations, in particular UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association) ;
d)Work collectively with other trade unions and civil society groups;
e)Lobby organisations supplying agency workers, highlighting the difficulties they and their workers will face in trying to break strikes